I'm not sure what you're asking or what point you're making. I thought this was a forum where Ford owners collaborate to help each other with their vehicles.

 

The point he is making is that if you haven't checked your fluid you can't comment on what it looks like.
You don't have a clue unless you check it.
Sometimes you have to help yourself since few , if any , will come to your house and look at it for you.

 

Yeah. I kind of returned his sarcasm with my own. I don't think I asked anyone here whether my trans fluid was ok. :-)

However I do greatly appreciate the help all give here and think this forum is truly awesome.

 

i agree it's a great group of guys here.

And yes I offered a little sarcasm intended in good humor so I hope you weren't offended.

you said you haven't checked your fluid yet, but it appeared ok (your words not mine). That's ludicrous. Unless it was a typo or something.
Then when I asked you, it seemed you gave me some sarcasm. Because we all know Google and YouTube can't check your trans fluid.
So what's the mix up?

 

Ha ha. I meant this is the fist time I've ever checked may tranny fluid in any of my cars (that I can remember anyway).

 

OK. Took it in to a local tranny shop. Tranny computer diagnostic code is:
P0731 - Gear ratio on first gear

And he says it won't hold pressure on the forward drum.

He says the forward drum is probably cracked, and the tranny needs a rebuild.

He wants $2,600 to do a complete rebuild of the tranny.

He claims they charge more than if we bought a rebuilt tranny online & had it installed, because he rebuilds them to a higher standard.

Specifically he says his tranny rebuilds include the following upgrades that you don't typically get with a rebuilt-tranny bought online or at a parts supplier:

1.) Heavy Duty Clutches (to help it last longer)
2.) High-pressure Boost Valves (for improved performance)

Being a novice here, I'm asking you guys. Are these legit upgrades, or is he pulling my leg? I looked online and saw various "high pressure boost valves" selling for ~$35. IDK how many of those are needed. But is this the same part that he is saying most stock rebuilt trannys use a lower quality of?

What about heavy-duty clutches? Are those a real thing, or just something he's making up? Most trannys don't have heavy-duty clutches?

He says they use the strongest / highest-quality parts to enable it to last as long as possible.

Thanks for your help guys!!
-
Doug

 

My 2 cents.........

Yea, if a Good tranny shop is going to do a "re-built" most do an over the top job, with the heavy duty parts, they build it with the parts used in like an Ambulance package. All heavy duty.

Off the shelf "re-man's" are just that, just the basic re-built parts, on an assembly line, type set-up.

The question is........what do you want?? Keeping this van forever?
Get it up and running and flipping it??

I broke down in South Carolina in '05, 800+ miles from home, blew my E4OD all over the highway, ended up at a local shop, he worked on it until 11pm, next morning got it done and installed by noon, and I was on my way again.........he re-built it with all heavy duty ambulance package parts, I would have to up shift the tranny with the gas pedal, other wise it would wine out before it shifted.........drove that thing for another 10 years and 150+K and even swapped it out in my '92 for about 6 months, until the front seal let go and called it done......point is, the local guy charge me $2200, big bite, but divide that over the years and mileage.......I got a good deal with it.
The one I'm running in the '92 now is over the counter from a local re-builder/tranny shop, I paid $1450 for that one, 2 years ago, took 2 days to swap it out, 20 quarts of fluid, and it didn't shift out of 1st gear, had to take it back to them to rebuild the valve body, but I don't think I'll get 10 years, and I don't drive the '92 cube van that much anymore.......I'll get by with it.

So.....you asking about an 5R110W tranny?? over the counter, low end, $1,750 high end $2,400 with a $1,000 core charge. And this shop want $2,600 complete?? Including the 18 quarts of fluid at $7.50 per quart......hmm.......your choice.

 

How well do you know this shop? Have you thought about a second opinion?
Maybe Mark will chime in too...
Wildman makes some good points to think about...
I have no clue, but I wonder if there are any TSB’ on your transmission or software upgrades that might solve the problem? My sons PT cruiser was having simular problems and a shop flashed the computer and it fixed his problem..


I guess you have been reading on the code..
https://www.obd-codes.com/p0731

https://www.autocodes.com/p0731_ford.html

This one is interesting
https://repairpal.com/OBD-II-Code-P0731

 

When I owned a shop I charged more than that.

His description of upgraded parts is legitimate. I included heavier duty clutches, too, but I only did the pressure uprades if the customer asked for it.

 

Wildman25, annaleigh & Mark. Thanks so much for all your help on this.

Mark do you think it is worth pushing back at the possibility of a misdiagnosis based on the info in this link?
https://repairpal.com/OBD-II-Code-P0731

We are ready to pay the $2,600, but of course wouldn't want to in case they are going the "easy" "catchall" route of a rebuild, when in fact the root cause may be simpler and cost less...

Thoughts?

Annaleigh the shop has a pretty good reputation. They've been in existence for like 60 years. They do all the tranny work for our city municipality fleet & various other fleets. Although today I called a competitor and he didn't think they were that great, but I take a competitors opinion with a pretty large grain of salt.

They give a 1 yr 12,000 mile warranty.

 

Yea it seems competitors today hardly ever speak good of another. My dad had a garage in the early 70's and back then if one shop was too busy, they would refer you to one of the other shops.


I am not a transmission person and am somewhat intimidated by automatic transmissions though I will do some minor work on them.. I have been watching the threads about transmissions because though my AOD is working fine at the moment, I am not sure of the mileage or condition. I want to learn the best rout when I do have a problem one day..
Bad Bad trip when you find yourself miles away from home on vacation and it goes out!!

 

Automatic transmissions are mystical pieces of equipment. No one knows how they work.

Ive seen lots of people on this forum with trans issues that turn out to be "a" problem, instead of a rebuild. I hate automatic transmissions. And computer chips. Both are magical boxes of voodoo. They defy all mechanical logic.

I truly wish you luck with your problem. Stick with Mark Kovalski here- he will help.

As far as heavy duty parts: I am a huge fan of good parts and of parts upgrades. But my van has at least 193,000 miles on its transmission, and I fully suspect the other 113,000 miles (before me) were with the same unit. I'm not feeling the "upgrades" on this one.

 

I'd say that a generic website that gives general type information would be MUCH more reliable than a transmission expert that actually inspected the problem transmission, and from the diagnosis you provided, measured pressures, too. [/sarcasm]

 

better to be lucky than good sometimes
you may have just jinxed yourself

 

Well I'm glad you see it that way. Because I gave the authorization for the rebuild work this morning, after having one more talk with the main guy at the transmission shop. He assured me there was no way it could be a misdiagnosis, because of how thorough their diagnostic was. They didn't just take the computer reading and guess. They tested pretty much everything you can possibly test without taking the tranny apart, and said there's no question about the root cause.

So in three days and $2,700 later, we will have a brand-new high-performance, heavy-duty transmission, that will hopefully last us another 150,000 miles, if we take care of it.

and for the record, the local Ford dealership wanted almost $6000 to put in a remanufactured transmission that would not have the heavy duty or higher performing components.

So I feel happy, both with the outcome, and that I was able to do some due diligence checks, which is always comforting when you're going to drop a few thousand dollars for a purchase that you are fairly ignorant about.

Thanks all for your help. I greatly appreciate it!